Abstract Detail

Ecological Section

Davidson, Bill E. [1], SMITH, JAMES F. [1], Serpe , Marcelo Daniel [1].

Inoculation of Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis with Arbuscular Mycorrhizae: Impacts on Colonization and Mycorrhizal Composition of Roots After Transplanting.

Inoculation of seedlings with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is a common practice aimed at improving seedling establishment. The success of this practice largely depends on the ability of the inoculum to multiply and colonize the growing root system after transplanting. These events were investigated in Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) seedlings inoculated with native AMF. Seedlings were first grown in a greenhouse in sterilized soil (non-inoculated seedlings) or soil containing a mixture of native mycorrhizal species (inoculated seedlings). Three-month old seedlings were transplanted to a recently burned sagebrush habitat or to 24 L pots filled with soil from a sagebrush habitat and grown under natural conditions. Seedlings were transplanted to pots in the spring and fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012. Transplanting to the burned site occurred in the spring and fall of 2012. At the time of transplanting the percent colonization was negligible for non-inoculated seedlings and ranged between 24 to 81% for the inoculated ones. Three, 5, or 8 months after transplanting colonization was about twofold higher in inoculated than non-inoculated seedlings. The only exception was for seedlings transplanted to the burned site during spring, which showed no significant difference in colonization between treatments. For the seedlings used to analyze colonization, we characterized the AMF phylotypes present in the roots based on sequences from the large subunit-D2 rDNA region. A total of eight phylotypes were identified, two within the Claroideoglomeracea and six within the Glomeraceae. For inoculated seedlings, ordination analysis using non-metric multidimensional scaling did not reveal differences between the AMF communities present in the roots before and after transplanting. Similarly, no differences in phylotype composition were detected between non-inoculated and inoculated seedlings after transplanting. Overall, our results indicate that the inoculum did not significantly alter the AMF composition of the roots, but contributed to the colonization of the roots that developed after transplanting resulting in higher levels of colonization than those naturally occurring in the soil. Furthermore, increases in colonization were associated with increases in seedling survival.  

1 - Boise State University, Biological Sciences, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho, 83725-1515, United States

Keywords:
mycorrhiza
seedling establishment
sagebrush.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Eyrie/Boise Centre
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2014
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PEC039
Abstract ID:165
Candidate for Awards:Ecological Section Best Graduate Student Poster